Charmed, I'm sure
by Phanosaurus
Summary: James loves Lily. That much we know. But as the tension between Sirius and James rises, can we be sure about what Sirius hides behind his mask? As he Maurauders journey further into Hogwarts, are they really geting closer? Or are they crumbling apart?
1. Chapter 1

Okay, so I'm new to this, so please don't be too harsh? Cheers me dears J xx

He sighed. It was pouring down...again. At this rate the summer would never come. Last year, it'd been great, but this time round, he wasn't so sure it would fulfil his hopes. He ran his fingers through his thick, dark hair, and sniffed as his fringe fell into his grey eyes. He stood up and traipsed over to his red robe. The cold was getting to him, and his socks were wet - he'd been sitting in a pool of water from where the glass had come apart from the lead. Making his way back to the window ledge, he grabbed his book. He wanted to lose himself again, and there was no better way than with words.

"Hey Sirius - y'alright?" James chuckled. He was busy with Remus.

"Mmm, you?" Sirius replied, Remus' face enlightening his mood somewhat.

"If ... James...would just...yes!" Rem managed, as he pinned his friend to the floor. James groaned.

"Every time James. You should know by now, that I'm not going to give in. Not even to you. And I remain champion!" Remus yelled, spinning in circles, his arms waving in the air.

"Let Sirius try, yeah? He'll be able to do it. I was just tired - that's all. I barely got sleep last night."

"And the sleep that you did get..." Sirius winked.

"Shu'up Black."

James leaped on top of him, he's obviously regained his energy from his last bout. He leaned hard on Sirius' right shoulder, and rolled him onto his front. He straddled his back was just about to yell 'Champion' when Sirius put all his effort into sitting up, and dropping James on his back. He span round on his knees, pinning him to the ground. James laughed as he breathed heavily into Sirius' face,

"Okay, you win." Potter looked up at Remus, expecting him to say something amusing, but Remus' mouth was wide open, gawping.

"James. Get up now."

"Bro, what's happened?" Sirius asked anxiously, scrambling to his feet. As he arrived next to Remus, he breathed out and closed his eyes. He put his hands to his face and held the bridge of his nose for a momen, before placing his right hand on his hip and leaning back into a casual stance. He felt James' warm breath in his ear, as he sighed.

"Oh shit."

The red-headed girl was stomping towards them, dragging the gangly boy by the wrist. He was oviously objecting, but she stormed ahead.

"You bastard! How dare you James Potter? Sev's my best friend, and he may be annoying at times' began Lily, her eyes glaring into James', as the scrawny boy behind her made a noise of contempt 'but that is not a valid reason to bully him. I don't care what you say about me, but don't you dare start on Sev."

Sirius bit his lip and risked a glance at James. He was doing a good job of breathing steadily, and there was only a slight tinge to his cheeks. He looked rght back at Sirius and laughed.

"What are you laughing at?" Demanded Lily, lifting her chin up into the air. James stepped forwards. Lily blinked and held her chin up higher. James took another step. Lly blinked again. When James took his last step, he was abut three inches away from Lily. She had to look up high to see his face - James was a good 3/4 foot taller than her. He held out his hand, and reached to tuck a strand of her out of her face.

"Don't you dare touch her Potter." Growled Severus, towering over him. Sirius felt a pang of guilt inside. Not one, but two friends that he was letting down.

"And what are you going to do about it?" James asked, crossing his arms over his puffed out chest.

Severus opened his mouth slightly, and a shadow passed over his eyes. He jerked his head to the side, trying to get his greasy, black hair out of his face. He blinked twice. All eyes were on him. Sirius noticed how his hands slid into his pockets, but he also noticed the surprise in Severus' eyes for one split second. And then he looked at Lily and sighed. Sirius saw how his shoulders sagged, this scrawny teenage boy was disappointed in himself.

"Potter...please just...' Severus hesitated ' Please just leave it.."

"Leave what Snivellus? There's nothing there - nothing to leave."

"James I think-" Sirius started, but Remus looked at him, meaning to silence him.

"James! Don't you dare!" Shrieked Lily, as she saw him reach for his wand.

She lunged for him, but Remus grabbed her.

"Evans, you'll get yourself hurt. I don't want you to get hurt." Mumbled Sirius, as he took her from Remus. Her red hair was tickling his face as he restrained her.

"Lily, Lily - stop. Lily." She looked up at him, her breathing shallow. Tears filled her eyes.

"Please don't let them hurt him. Please stop it - please. I'll do anything - please! Just stop them." She whimpered, as her knees buckled and she slumped at his feet. Sirius sighed. He looked down and sat beside her. He looked into her face while she muttered under her breath.

"Look Lily - I don't know what I can do. I mean, I can't do anything." He managed.

"Well then, piss off." she snapped. He closed his eyes, breathing deeply. He felt the girl next to him stiffen.

"What is it?" he wondered quietly.

"Listen, Black. " Lily breathed.

In the distance there was shouting. Sirius could just make out the barks of laughter coming from near the old tree.

The pair scrambled to their feet and ran towards the crowd.

They stopped suddenly, standing like statues.

"Who wants to see me take off Snivellus' trousers?" Shouted James. Severus Snape was dangling from one leg in mid-air.


	2. Chapter 2 - Wait

So this is my next chapter - whoo! Really enjoying writing this ;) Please leave any comments/questions/facts or whateverererer in the comments if you have any :P Hope you enjoy it - and if you don't, please explain why but don't be too harsh cos I hate on haters :) Thank you!

Love,

Me

Lily's shouts were drowned by the sudden uproar from the crowd. They were jeering, sneering, egging James on.

"Take off his trousers!"

"Do it! Don't be a puss Potter!"

Sirius just stood there. His hands useless at his sides. He had expected Severus to defend himself. But he hadn't.

"Do something! Do something! I swear to God, if you don't do anything Sirius Black..." Lily snarled threateningly.

"Lily I-" He started, but he was interrupted by a sound slap across hs face. As Lily pulled back her hand, scowling, he reached his up to his cheek. It stung.

"Jesus Lily!" He breathed. But she was already storming ahead, her strong, slim body squeezing through the crowd.

Sirius chased after her, his thick mop of hair falling into his eyes every time he took a step. He shoved his way to the front, catching up with the red-head. She was shouting at James' back, but he somehow maintained his power to ignore people, even with this pretty warrior behind him.

"You think you're funny, but you're just an arrogant, bullying toerag, Potter. Leave him alone. " She spat, seething.

" I will if you go out with me Evans. Go on, go out with me and I will never lay a wand on old Snivelly again. "

"You bastard." She muttered.

Sirius heard the panic caught in Lily's voice, and with the turmoil inside of him at this moment, he lost his temper.

He barged into James' shoulder, causing him to spin around, frowning. He shoved him back a step, he was taller, it was easier.

"What the hell are you doing Sirius?" questioned James, confused.

"What the hell are YOU doing James? You can't just go parading around, showing off whatever you can do to anyone and everyone who'll watch, or listen, or just breathe the same air as you! You need more attention, you can't live off of the same amount of attention as anyone else. No. You just need more. More. More. It's not right, what you're doing Potter." Sirius raged, his anger burning at his dignity, fast.

The crowd made a noise of discomfort, some shuffling, some staring at their feet, some checking their friends reactions. But most silent.

No-one could mistake the sheer fury in James Potter's eyes then, while he was standing under the tree. He trembled all over as he looked from Lily standing beside Sirius, shocked, to his best friend, biting his lip. No-one could mistake what the deep breath meant, as he stiffened his square jaw.

"Don't come running back to us, Black. We won't take you back." James snarled. He began to walk away, knocking Sirius on his way past. He hesitated and whispered in Sirius' ear. "We have your secret." He smiled and swaggered away.

As the crowd parted, Remus pushed through. He looked at Sirius, apology flickering in his eyes. Sirius nodded. Remus had no choice, if he left James' side, he couldn't be sure he could trust him with what he knew. Lupin bounded away, apparently pleased that Sirius was still taking notice of him.

"What was that about?" enquired Lily when everyone had dispersed. She was obviously asking about James' whisper. Sirius flopped his hand, as if brushing it off. Severus shuffled towards them, his greasy hair still plastered to his face. They walked in silence for a while, hearing only the crush of the trim grass underfoot and the first years laughing, sprawled out by the lake. A young, dark-haired girl looked up at them when they walked past and smiled shyly. Her long lashes brushed against her glasses and she turned away, enthralled in her book. Sirius could hear Lily's breathing, and noticed how her feet were in sync with Snape's, obviously sub-consciously. Snape stopped suddenly.

"What's wrong Sev?" asked Lily, apparently concerned. Her red hair was gleaming in the sun.

"I..I don't think he should be here." The hook-nosed boy hesitated, as if scared of Lily's reaction. And he was right to be.

"Look. If he hadn't have done anything you'd be an absolute mockery right now Severus. You should be grateful! He just saved you!" Positively outraged, she crossed he arms and span around.

"Lily...it's fine. I'll go." Sirius really wasn't in the mood to be at the centre of an argument.

She twirled around, Her forehead was creased in a frown, her eyebrows knit togetehr crossly. He arms were still folded tightly, Her chest was heaving as se breathed heavily.

"Don't you start. It's enough that you get into trouble constantly, no defending yourself. You always leave it up to me. And you. You absolute slug! If you dare. If you dare stand up to me. It's enough that you wonder around with that fool of a friend who is abslutely dead set against me-" Sirius laughed. Lily frowned.

"Now what?!"

"You think that James Potter is against you?" He spluttered, struggling for air. Lily obviously didn't understand. Severus had his mouth set in a grim line. His eyes were furnaces.

"Well, of course! Why else would he-" She started, puzzled, but was shortly interrupted.

"James….he-… as adamant as you are that he hates you, is...he never stops talking about you!" She opened her mouth but closed it again, like a trout, somewhat. She twirled around and flounced away, her long, red hair trailing behind her.

Sirius snorted and he and Severus looked at each other for a moment, each of them supressing a smile.


	3. Chapter 3

They were trudging down the long corridor, their footsteps resonating in the empty space, as their voices echoed around them like hundreds of others, although they knew that they were perfectly safe in their solitude.

"You know that it's not impressive to lie, and it won't get you anywhere."

"I'm not lying. It's true."

"Well, what do you think Sev?"

"I think he's messed up. He's an obnoxious weasel and he can't big himself up enough to ease his craving for superiority."

"Yes, I know all that, but what about what Sirius said? About him…' she paused and sighed, disgust curling her lip upwards, ' _fancying_ me?"

"It's true."

"For once, I believe Black. I mean, it's possible isn't it? And all the evidence does point towards that idea." He nodded at Sirius, something similar to warmth creeping into his eyes.

Lily Evans stopped walking. She clutched her books tight to her chest and tucked a stray strand of auburn hair behind her freckled ear. She looked down at her feet and frowned in contemplation.

"So what if he does, anyway? I'm never going to go out with him." She was looking at the boys now, her eyes cloudy.

"Well, he'll just keep on trying."

"He won't give up."

"He's certain you'll come around."

"He's too certain of _himself."_

"He's too far up his own arse to see that you don't like him."

"You can do a lot better."

"But you can't do any worse."

Sirius glanced at Severus quickly, and he couldn't help but wonder that maybe there was _something _that they shared in common.


	4. Chapter 4

Sirius picked up his quill and scraped it in the bottom of the ink well. As he etched words along the parchment, it set his teeth on edge. It wasn't the sound or the feeling of the feather scratching the paper, merely what he was writing. He would say he hated exams as much as the next person, if the two people sitting next to him didn't happen to be Lily Evans and Severus Snape – possibly the smartest young people he knew. It was times like these where he envied them for their ability to memorise, and although he wouldn't say he was stupid, perhaps his attention span could be improved.

The ticking of the clock in the corner was boring holes into his brain, coupled with someone rapping their knuckles on the long table at the far end of the classroom, was giving him a raging headache. He swirled the end of the quill in the blue ink mindlessly for a few moments, contemplating what to write. Professor Slughorn was striding at the front of the class, occasionally taking up his place on the patterned plinth to eagerly watch his star pupils at work. There were no colourful tapestries hanging from the stone walls today, instead, a cold grey greeted them when they looked up. Above him, intensely hued phoenixes danced around sleeping dragons, resting on the high ceiling. Sirius paused, painting a story of why they were there and what they were doing in his mind. He cocked his head to the side, attempting to decipher the words written above him. He squinted, sweeping his dark curls out of his eyes. With a jolt, he was launched out of his daydream. Slughorn was tapping Sirius's desk with his wand, obviously attempting to grasp his attention.

"Can we focus now, Black? Or do we need a bit less decoration?" And with a flourish of his wand, the dragons were gone.

He heard a snigger from behind him, he swivelled around to see who it was, and caught a smirk on James Potter's face before he raised his eyebrows, challenging him.

"Ahem." Proffessor Slughorn coughed in order to get Sirius, one of the last on his way out the door, to turn around.

"Can I help you, sir?" enquired the young boy, expecting an errand to run.

"Could you step back in please, Black? I'd like to have a word with you." Sirius looked over his shoulder and nodded at his waiting friends to go.

Slughorn gestured to a seat in front of his desk.

"Now, I assume you'll probably have guessed what I've asked you here-"

"I'm sorry I got distracted, sir. I should have been paying more attention to my work."

Slughorn sat back, blinking rapidly, obviously startled.

"Oh no, dear boy. Dear, dear. You think that lowly of me? No, no. I was just asking you here to speak about the Evans girl."

"Oh! Lily, you mean?"

"Yes, yes of course I mean Lily! How many other Evanses are there here at Hogwarts?! Honestly boy, you'd think you were slow!" chuckled the Professor. There were exactly seven Evanses at Hogwarts, thought Sirius, but thought it best to keep that to himself. He smiled uncomfortably.

"So, my dear boy, Lily, eh? I didn't honestly think that she was your type but…I must say…"

"No, no, no! She's just a friend!" Interrupted Black, his fists clenching.

"Oh, right. Yes. Ok. Of course. Just a friend..right. Well. She's terribly bright, you know. She's the br-"

"She's the brightest witch of her age. Yes, I know." Sirius seemed to be doing a lot of interrupting today, but Slughorn always seemed to get under his skin, somehow.

"Yes, exactly. I wouldn't expect that of a muggle born though. Not that there's anything wrong with coming from a muggle line of descent, but, of course, we all expect the purebloods to achieve greater things, eh?" Jested the professor.** That's** what annoyed Sirius.

"Not really, sir."

"Your family is very rich in magic blood though isn't it? I have the deepest respects for your mother, and your brother Regulus too, don't forget, is an exceptionally talented young man."

"Yeah, he's alright I suppose…" mumbled Sirius, twiddling his thumbs in his lap.

"Well, why don't you come along to my next meeting? You have a sort of informal invitation to what I like to call the Slug Club." Sirius kept his face down but glanced up at his professor through his long fringe.

"We have puddings?" encouraged Slughorn. Smiling widely, he looked up at him.

"It's a deal."


	5. Chapter 5

Sirius was in the common room, reading. The other boys were in the dormitory playing with Fizzing Whizbees – he could hear them from down here. The fire was in and he stoked it occasionally, although he knew he didn't need to – the flames were enchanted. He was on speaking terms with Peter now, and he was still best friends with Remus, but the situation between him and James wasn't great. Granted, they weren't exactly at each other's throats, but they weren't friends either.

Sirius heard a floorboard creak and he snapped his head up. Remus was creeping quietly down the stairs, until he made that faulty step. He smiled apologetically and slunk over. Sirius grinned warmly and gestured to a seat next to him. His friend tucked his long, narrow feet underneath him as he sunk into the arm chair and buried his face in a crimson cushion. His mousey hair flopped all over the place as he nestled his nose into the softness.

"You okay, buddy?" asked Sirius, shutting his book gently.

"I'm alright. You?" Came his muffled voice in answer to the question.

"Yeah, I'm alright.' He paused. 'Has James sent you down?"

"Nah. He got boring." Sirius chuckled.

"And I'm supposed to entertain you?" He laughed, breezing over the fact that he was very unentertaining indeed.

"Well…we ran out of Fizzing Whizbees so they moved onto Acid Pops and I'm not in the mood."

"I wouldn't be either!" Remus smiled at him and then frowned. He paused.

"Do you miss it?"

"Miss what?"

"Being with us all the time. I mean, we're still your friends, and its still fun, but even James can't deny that it's not the same without you."

Recently, Sirius had been keeping himself to himself a lot more than usual, and even Lily couldn't persuade him to hang out with her and Snape all the time. She'd been asking him persistently if he'd walk around with her and Severus on the next Hogsmeade visit because it wasn't too far away. He kept saying 'maybe' or 'not sure yet' to keep her off his back. In all fairness, he didn't even know if he wanted to go, let alone give James another excuse to pester him.

"Its alright, I guess. I've been keeping up to date with homework better and I've had better grades this term."

"I haven't – James has been keeping us busy."

"Nothing's changed there then!" They shared a secret smile and chuckled to themselves. A comfortable silence settled, shrouding them in sleepiness. They boys yawned and Remus carried himself off to bed, ruffling Sirius' hair as he walked past. Sirius found himself lost in his book once more.

The next day, Sirius was woken up by the sound of the curtains on the railing being drawn noisily and the sun shining sharply into his flickering eyes. He grimaced and ducked back under his duvet again, poking his nose out for air.

"Come on! Rise and shine you bastard!"

Sirius grabbed his pillow from underneath him and launched it at the boy standing in his striped pyjamas.

"Good luck getting back to sleep, mate." Remus winked, giggling under his breath as he plumped up Sirius' pillow and plonked it on his own bed.

"Shit." Sirius cursed, genuinely irritated by how stupid he was in the mornings. He sat up, blinked and stretched.

"What's gotten into you, anyway? Fancy a career in housewivery? You don't get payed much…"

It was Remus' turn to throw something. Only it wasn't a pillow.

"Ow! That actually hurt!" Black groaned as he dropped Remus' copy of _Hogwarts: A History _onto the floor and rolled over, drifting off again.

"No! No way are you going back to sleep!" Sirius' breath puffed out of him all in one go, as Remus launched on top of him, winding him.

"Oi! Gerroff!" He exclaimed. Sirius rolled onto his back, and blew into Remus' face. He then rolled them over and over until they landed in a laughing pile on the floor. Breathless and in fits of giggles, the boys scuffled on the floor for a while until the hilarity drained away. With smiles plastered on their faces, and occasional bursts of laughter escaping them, they lay on their backs on the stone floor in the tower room. Lupin sighed a heavy sigh.

"You okay?"

"Yeah…I just miss you. We used to do this all the time and now even just spending time with you is rare." His friend replied gruffly, longing for the boys' friendship to return to how it used to be.

"Yeah, I know how you feel. It's like even just two of us have a tiny fallout, and suddenly, no one's allowed to be friends. I miss you too, man. To be honest, I feel a bit lonely at the moment."

"You have Snape and Lily though, right?"

"Its not the same. They're great – I love spending time with them! It's just that its not 'I'll be with the boys' or whatever. I have to think harder about what I say, you know?"

"Yeah, I know. You know I'm friends with Lily too, right?"

"I know. She's great isn't she?"

"Yeah…Sirius?" Lupin asked, sounding very small all of a sudden.

"Remus?"

"Come back?" And with that, he stood up, smiled at him and left the room, leaving Sirius to smooth out his tousled hair, wondering how he got into this situation.


End file.
